Please note that it is possible the details of Abin Sur's past are not 100 percent consistent, due to the history altering events of the Crisis.

Abin Sur was born on the planet Ungara and was raised by his parents (names unknown) with his sister Arin. He grew up alongside his best friends Ruch Ehr and Munni Jah, the latter being the woman Abin loved but never spoke about to anyone. Abin Sur would go onto become a professor of history and after that was recruited by the Green Lantern Starkaðr and become a respected and valued member of the Green Lantern Corps.

In his adventures, Abin would learn of a mysterious prophecy known only as the Blackest Night and his curiousity would lead him to the planet Ysmault, home to the Five Inversions, five powerful demons trapped on the planet. The Inversions, wanting freedom or at least to make Abin suffer attempted to tempt him to set him free, but to no avail. One of the Inversion gave Abin a vision of the future, including events known as the Blackest Night and the War of Light, the promise that his ring would fail him and that his successor would be considered the greatest Lantern of that era. Abin Sur shared this information with the Guardians of the Universe, the beings who govern the Green Lantern Corps, only to find that the warning seemingly fell on deaf ears.

Sometime later, Abin Sur would begin travelling with a spaceship, out of fear of his ring failing him. However, the prophecy also proved to be a trap and by trying to avoid it, he fell into it when after being attacked by an entity known as Legion, Abin's ship crashed and the situation made him unable to use his ring to protect his life. The planet he crashed on was the planet Earth and before dying, Abin sent the ring to find a worthy successor. It eventually found test pilot Hal Jordan, who was brought before Abin in his final moments. Abin told Jordan that he was chosen to be the next Green Lantern, then died.

In the afterlife, Abin Sur was able to help the plant elemental Swamp Thing rescue his daughter from the pits of Hell.

During the event known as the Blackest Night, the entity known as Nekron ressurected various beings across the universe as monstrous undead ghouls. However, the Black Lantern version of Abin Sur was returned to the grave following the defeat of Nekron.